Practice Ideas

Practice in real or simulated conversations, one constraint per week. Partner and table formats are also available as printable sheets.

Solo

10 min · daily

The daily set

One set each of Rapid Repair, The Naive Ear, and Recap in One. Stand, speak aloud, and do not restart.

15 min · weekly

Shadow hosting

Pause a podcast or interview after each answer and speak your follow-up before hearing the host's. Name the phrase that justified your channel.

20 min · after any hosted event

The recording review

Review a recording: Which phrase justified each follow-up? Which triggers passed unused? Where did you fill silence? Log answers in the rep log.

5 min · before any conversation

Two-anchor sketch

In the planner, set an Entry and a Return. Leave the middle open.

With a partner

2 people · 30 min

Twelve-minute interviews

One hosts for twelve minutes on a topic the guest knows. Keep the host under 25% on the Table Timer, then swap. Each names one question that opened something.

2 people · 20 min

Dealt-hand interview

Deal the host two moves from Palette Draw. After twelve minutes, the guest guesses them.

2 people · 15 min

The guarded guest

The guest secretly chooses a guarded move. The host uses non-adversarial clarification until the script runs out. Reveal and swap.

2 people · 10 min

Recap tennis

The guest talks for two minutes; the host recaps in one sentence. Score it core, partial, or miss. Play three rounds each; shorter recaps win ties.

At a real table

Dinner · any size

Host with a hand

Deal yourself two moves before guests arrive and find one natural opening for each.

Group · 4–8 people

The balance table

Put the Table Timer where everyone can see it and tap each speaker. Let the bars prompt self-correction.

Group · book club, panel, salon

Rotating conductor

Rotate the host every fifteen minutes and deal each one a move. Afterwards, the group guesses the moves.

Meeting · recurring

One-move meetings

Use one move in every recurring meeting for a month.

Progressions

When a game gets easy, raise the difficulty:

Shrink the clock. Every drill's timer is adjustable. Rapid Repair at 6 seconds is a different sport than at 12.
Remove the reveal. Do a set without checking the model answers; check only the last round.
Chain moves. In Move Roulette, perform the dealt move, then immediately a second move of your choice on your own imagined follow-up answer.
Raise the stakes gradually. Solo drill → partner format → real table with people you know → real table with people you don't. The drill you avoid is usually the one to schedule.